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Patented Apr. 10, 1888.

W. A. SPARKS.

FASTBNER FOR OOFFINS.

(NoModeL) No 380,704. 8 v

% y mllfgm BY figy ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES XQWMZ.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM SPARKS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR To THE STEIN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

FASTENER FOR COFFINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,704, dated April 10, 18 88.

Application filed May 28. 1887. Serial No. 239,615. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. SPARKS, of Rochester,in the county of Monroe, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Burial-Caskets, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of burial-caskets which consist of a metallic lining combined with an exterior case of wood or other material,in which it is essential to have a tight joint in the metallic lining of the casket, and one which may at the same time be closed and tightened with great facility and dispatch; and the object of my invention is to provide means for accomplishing the desired result in a most simple and efficient manner; and to this end the invention consists in providing the metallic inner casket or lining with a joint between the lid and body and securing or compressing the joint by a clamp of peculiar construction,and in providing a stop, either on the clamp or casket, to hold the clamp in the tightening operation, all as hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In specifying my invention reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which (like letters indicating corresponding parts in all the views) Figure l is a transverse sectional view of the inner metallic casket or lining, illustrating the joint and the securing-clamp in position thereon. Fig. 2 is a plan showing the stop for preventing the clamp from turning when securing the joint formed on the casket instead of on the clamp. Fig. 3 is a like view Show ing the stop formed on the clamp. Fig. 4 is a transverse section enlarged,showing a modification in the form of the screw on which the clamp turns. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detached view of the clamp. Fig. 6 shows a section taken on line at w in Fig. 5, for the purpose of illustrating the contour of the straight front face of the clamp and the projecting extension I which forms the stop, the clamp being inverted for the purpose of illustrating the relative position of the extending stop in relation to the offset which sets over the edge of the casket; and Fig. 7 illustrates a modification in the construction of the stop on the clamp.

A represents the inner metallic casket or metal lining, to which my invention is preferably applied.

T is the lid, and S is the side of the body.

B is a cleat extending around the side S of the body in close proximity to the upper edge thereof, and has for its object the formation of a base or support, into which the screws p of the clamp are screwed to compress the clamps and thereby secure the joint,which II will now describe.

The lid or top T is provided on its outer edge with a metallic rim, d, which is preferablyinclosed in a fold of the sheet metal of the top, as best illustrated in the enlarged sectional view.- The metallic rim d serves the twofold office of stiffening the flange a of the lid T and also forming a bearing for the packing-joint between the lid and body portion of the casket.

The rim of the lid rests upon a strip of rubber, T, which rests on the top rim, t, of the body portion of the casket.

In order to effect the compression of the lid on the rubber with greatfacility and ease, I provide the clamp 0, provided with the offsets o, to fit over the flange or edge of the lid, and the screw 19, upon which the clamp may turn, to screw the clamp G to the cleat or strip B, as best shown in the enlarged sectional view, by simply forcing the screw into the cleat, which thereby serves to hold the clamp firmly to the body of the casket.

The clamp which I preferably employ, and which I have just described, is thus far simi lar to the clamp device described in the patent granted to myself and Nicholas Rappleyea as assignors to the Stein Manufacturing Company, of Rochester, New York, on March 16, 1886, No. 338,198; but my present invention differs essentially from the clamp illustrated and claimed in the aforesaid patent in respect to the feature which I will now describe.

In the patent above referred to no means were provided to hold the clamp when the same was tightened to compress the joint, and g it was necessary, therefore, to hold the offset with the finger while setting up the screw, and considerable difficulty existed in accomplishing this readily, and a considerable loss of time in setting up the joint was necessarily involved in operating the device. To overcome this difficult-y I provide a stop device, 8, which may be constructed on the flange a of the lid or upon any portion of the casket, in position to bear against the offset 0 to hold the clamp when the screw b is tightened in place to set up thejoint.

In the construction illustrated it will be observed that the front face of the clamp O, as best shown in the sectional view, Fig. 6, is flattened at s, and the material of the clamp extends outlaterally, forming an eccentric projection which takes against the edge of the lid, thereby making it impossible for the clamp to turn while the screw is being set up to tighten the joint. However, I do not restrict myself to the formation of the stop on the clamp, since the'same result is reached by attaching the stop to the casket-lid or to the casket, so that when the offset of the clamp is turned in position to compress the joint the clamp bears against the stop, and the turning of the clamp is thereby prevented, while the clamp is tightened down on thejoint.

The essential characteristics of my present invention consists, broadly, in the employment, in connection with a burial-casket having a joint and a flexible packing, of a clamp and a stop device for preventing the clamp from moving when in' its operative position for compressing the joints.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- I 1. In a burial-casket having a joint between the lid and body of the same, the combination of a packing in saidjoint, a clamp turning on a screw, having an offset setting over the edge of the lid to secure the joint, and a stop to prevent the clamp turning when set up to tighten the joint, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A securing-clamp for thejoint of metallic burial-caskets or like articles, turning on the screw which serves to set up the clamp, having an offset bearing on the edge of the lid to compress the joint, and a stop on the clamp, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a burial-casket having ajoint between the body and its lid, of a flexible packing in the joint, a clamp for tightening the joint, and a stop for holding the clamp in its operative position when compressing the joint, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, at Rochester, in the county of Monroe,

in the State of New York, this 25th day of May, 1887.

-WILLIAM A. SPARKS.

Witnesses:

FRANK. M. ELLERY, GEO. P. HEss. 

